Currently, each year U.S. consumers spend well over one hundred billion dollars purchasing goods or services (collectively “items”) over a communication network (“on-line”), such as from websites on the Internet. For example, items are available for purchase at Internet websites, such as Worldbid.com, Sourcity.com, Ariba.com, Priceline.com, eBay.com, Travelocity.com, etc., which require an individual or entity interested in purchasing an item from, or selling an item on, the website to register with the website. In addition, items are available for purchase at so-called channel websites, which offer for purchase only particular types of items, such as catalog-based goods and services. Purchase transactions completed over the Internet account for less than 3% of the nearly four (4) trillion dollars of annual U.S. retail sales. In addition, it is expected that on-line purchase transactions by U.S. consumers, and consumers located outside the U.S., will continue to increase by 25% and 35% per year, respectively.
It is estimated, however, that just over 50% of those individuals or entities who use the Internet, and are interested in purchasing an item on-line, actually complete a purchase transaction of a desired item on-line. The reasons most often attributed to why an individual or entity who uses the Internet does not complete a purchase on-line include: fear of identity theft; fear of terms and conditions of sale, which are set by the individual or entity selling the item; difficulty in concluding the actual on-line transaction; fear of being cheated or receiving an inferior item; concerns about paying a fair price; concerns about the ability of returning a purchased item for credit; and not having a credit card physically available at the time the information contained on the card is required to complete the on-line transaction.
In particular, it is believed that the control of many, or sometimes all, aspects of the on-line purchase process by the individual or entity who is selling an item on-line is one of the primary reasons why many on-line purchase transactions are not completed. For example, those who offer items for sale on-line often: design, structure and organize the manufacture of a product or the service being offered for sale; set the price of the item; set pricing mechanisms, such as the pricing operation of on-line auctions; establish terms or parameters of the purchase transaction, such as warranties that typically include lengthy and not easily understood legal boilerplate; determine availability of items; control advertising and communications regarding items; target a selected market(s) for sale of a specific item(s); avoid or nullify negotiations for purchase of an item; closely mimic offerings of competitors; and perform other actions designed to maximize profits by channeling, isolating, individualizing, confusing and de-leveraging potential purchasers. This one-sided control of the purchase process serves to weaken, divide and marginalize potential on-line purchasers, thereby causing the potential purchasers, who may have found a desired item on-line, not to complete an on-line purchase transaction.
In addition, those who are ready to purchase a specific item may disfavor the on-line purchasing process because of its inefficiencies and, therefore, not even attempt to make an on-line purchase transaction. Oftentimes, an individual may spend significant amounts of time, in some cases hours, searching for a desired item using numerous search engines and possibly visiting hundreds of websites, and still not find a website offering the desired item for sale. For example, a website on which the desired item is offered for sale may not be uncovered from an on-line search, if the website was not included or given high prominence in the search results provided by a search engine used to search for the item.
Therefore, there exists a need for system and method providing for a purchase transaction process that increases the likelihood that purchase transactions on a communication network are initiated and completed.